Homo Sapiens

Of course, seven Soldiers were still too few.

Li Qingye wasn’t satisfied with this. He had to keep expanding his manpower.

And his targets were very clear: gang members, especially the drug-pushing scum who were scattered like rats in the street.

Using online intelligence and some information provided by Chen Jianxiong, he quickly locked onto several targets.

One of these targets was the Sea Snake Gang, which had previously been entrenched in Manila’s South City District.

This small gang of over two hundred members had been hit by Old Du’s lightning crackdown. Their boss was executed, more than half their members were thrown in jail, and now the forty-odd remaining members had fled to Dart Port to lie low.

Gang members from out of town like these were easier to deal with than local gangs. They didn’t have the same kind of deep-rooted local networks.

After a week of analyzing the situations of his various targets, Li Qingye finally decided to make the Sea Snake Gang his objective.

「Night fell.」

A torrential downpour raged outside.

Inside a derelict lumber mill north of Dart Port, the remnants of the Sea Snake Gang were huddled in small groups around campfires, warming themselves and eating instant noodles and sausages.

”Phil, we can’t go on like this!” a weasel-faced young man said to the bald man grilling a chicken wing, all while slurping his instant noodles.

Another man, this one with a single eye, retorted sarcastically, ”You should be grateful we have anything to eat at all. Have you forgotten what it’s like out there? Idiot...”

The bald man took a bite of his chicken wing. ”One-Eye’s right. We just have to bear with it for now. We’ve still got a stash of cash. Once that bastard’s term is over, I refuse to believe the next guy will keep this up.”

At these words, the scum huddled by the fires broke out in a chorus of curses and complaints.

Some others just horsed around, buried their faces in their food, or paid it no mind.

Meanwhile, on a small path far from the derelict lumber mill, a van had parked quietly under a breadfruit tree. Its approach had been masked by the wind and rain, and the dense surrounding woods concealed its headlights.

The lights and engine were quickly cut. Inside the van, illuminated by a head-mounted searchlight, three Soldiers meticulously inspected their equipment.

After finishing their equipment check, they donned their raincoats, put on low-light goggles, and turned off the searchlight.

They crept closer to the derelict lumber mill, but they did not approach within two hundred meters.

The drug-pushing scum were extremely vigilant. Even in the rain, they would certainly have some sort of warning devices set up.

Getting too close could trigger them.

The Soldiers’ programming was set by Li Qingye, so his cautious style of operation was naturally followed to the letter.

The three of them, clad in black raincoats, crouched behind a pile of dead wood without making a single sound. This was the advantage of the Soldiers; even if a snake slithered past their feet, they would not react in the slightest.

They were waiting.

Waiting for the rain to stop.

More than five hours passed. Around two in the morning, the rain finally stopped. By then, most of the people inside the derelict lumber mill were fast asleep.

Soldier 5 made his move. He opened a briefcase and released a swarm of frozen, venomous mosquitoes designed to induce unconsciousness.

The other two stood guard.

The minutes ticked by. Half an hour later, they quickly fastened their gas masks and ran toward the interior of the lumber mill, pistols and grenades in hand.

CRACK!

Soldier 6’s foot snapped a tripwire made of fishing line. A device similar to a bird trap was instantly triggered, flinging a dozen tin cans into the air with a clatter.

Someone inside heard the noise.

”Who’s there!”

”Get up...!”

”Are the cops here?”

”Wake up!”

”Something’s not right...”

”Kev, what’s wrong with you?”

A jumble of panicked voices echoed from within the derelict lumber mill.

But the Soldiers were already closing in fast. They pulled the pins on their grenades and tossed them into the building. Soon, large plumes of smoke began to pour out.

”Damn it! It’s tear gas...!”

”COUGH COUGH...”

Soldier 5 stopped again and released another jar of the now-thawed venomous mosquitoes.

Soon, the successive thuds of heavy bodies hitting the floor could be heard. Ten minutes later, the inside fell completely silent.

The tear gas was beginning to dissipate, but there was still no response from inside the derelict lumber mill.

Yet the three Soldiers did not rush in, because their programming did not permit them to enter.

Soldier 7 took out a small thermal imaging camera and carefully circled the lumber mill. Peering through several gaps and windows, he saw that everyone inside was lying on the ground.

Inside the mill, two men lying under a mosquito net clutched a shotgun and a pistol. Their palms were sweating, their hearts pounding with tension as they listened intently for any sound from outside.

These two were the bald boss and the shifty-eyed young man. Since they had been sleeping under the mosquito net, they had naturally avoided being stung by the venomous mosquitoes.

In fact, when they realized everyone outside the net had passed out, and that those who had run out during the tear gas attack had also collapsed, the two had reacted quickly, hiding back inside the net to avoid being bitten.

They had originally planned to lie on the floor and stage a desperate counterattack, but the assailants outside never came in. They didn’t dare leave the mosquito net, so all they could do was wait anxiously.

Soldier 7 returned to the rendezvous point.

”All targets are on the ground, but we cannot confirm if they are fully incapacitated.”

”Execute Plan 19,” Soldier 5 ordered.

”Affirmative.”

”Affirmative.”

A few minutes later, another dozen or so grenade-like objects were thrown into the derelict lumber mill.

HSSSSSS...

Another thick cloud of smoke began to spread.

’Motherfuckers...’ The bald man and the skinny kid cursed simultaneously in their minds. They wanted to run out and fight the attackers to the death, but they found their bodies growing heavier and heavier until they reluctantly closed their eyes.

Another twenty minutes passed.

”The sleeping agent has dissipated.”

”Execute Plan 20.”

Soldier 5 entered first, holding a riot shield and a pistol, advancing cautiously.

Meanwhile, Soldier 6 took up a position by a window with a view of the interior, lying prone with a thermal camera and a sniper rifle, ready to fire at any moment.

The last one, Soldier 7, also held a thermal camera, but his weapon was an air gun that fired tranquilizer darts.

PFFT PFFT PFFT...

One after another, tranquilizer darts sank into the bodies of the Sea Snake Gang members lying on the floor.

If they were still conscious, they would probably have roared, ’Is all this really necessary? Just how paranoid are you people?’

But that was how the Soldiers’ programming was designed. To ensure complete and total success with zero risk, it was natural to have multiple backup plans.

Besides, the lab had produced a huge supply of things like the incapacitating mosquitoes, tear gas, sleeping agents, and tranquilizer darts. The Soldiers had no concept of saving Li Qingye money; they would only ever use the most conservative and safest methods to complete their mission.

Li Qingye was also worried that accidents could happen, given the inherent defects of the Soldiers, so he had programmed them with an especially conservative operational logic.

These unlucky members of the Sea Snake Gang had been ravaged in turn by venomous mosquitoes, tear gas, sleeping agents, and tranquilizer darts. At this point, they were as down for the count as it was possible to be.

After confirming that everyone had lost the ability to resist, the Soldiers quickly trussed them up, not even forgetting to gag their mouths.

Then, through a flurry of intense and coordinated activity over the next five days, all 43 members of the Sea Snake Gang were secretly transported, bit by bit, to the research base on Kalaqua Island.